For this time the "Yellow Peril" that was in the limelight, the upper echelons of Paris at this time still attached great importance to it. At this time, Europe did not have a strict division between civil and military forces as in the East, so Richelieu, who had made many reforms and contributions in domestic affairs, had personally led a large army to participate in the siege of the fortress of Rochelle a few years ago. For many years, wars with the Spaniards and the Dutch were often difficult fortifications, and it seemed that there were no large-scale field battles for the surrounding opponents, and that the attack was likely to be less than 10,000 strong, and Richelieu certainly hoped that a decisive battle would establish France on a greater position in Europe.

"The Orientals who come and go like the wind don't seem to be going to fight us head-on. But for some reason, it seems that we can always slip away before our troops arrive... ”

Just when a French general, who was somewhat eager to try, complained a little, finally there was more definite enemy information.

"Our enemy situation may have been misjudged, and those who came did not have less than 10,000 enemy troops, but probably as many as 20,000. Of course, the good news is that the strong enemies who have completed their assembly seem to be starting to re-encamp, as if they are waiting for our army to besiege them... ”

Richelieu, who had always been cautious in his actions, was not as confident as some of the generals, and said to the generals at an impromptu military meeting: "You yourself may know better than I do about the battles of our vanguard cavalry with those strong enemies. There is no doubt that their horsemanship, though not very good, is not inferior to the best archers of the Mamluks of the past or the Ottomans of the present. If our army rashly engages the other side without reliable preparations, and does not adopt targeted tactics, it is very likely to suffer a big loss... ”

This time, unlike many opponents in Eastern Europe that Xiao Xuan had faced before, when Xiao Xuan planned to engage those strong enemies from the front, the French army group with a large number of troops seemed to have quickly prepared a large number of vehicles that were temporarily used as shield vehicles and was ready to rely on them to start a decisive battle through absolute superiority in troops.

Seeing the adaptability of a strong enemy in Western Europe in the true sense, Xiao Xuan couldn't help but feel a little pressure. The whole army had crossed the Rhine in less than half a month or so, and the enemy had never fought with their own army before, and they were still so cautious that they thought of a tactical method of warfare that seemed to have a certain restraint. If I arrive a few months later, I am afraid that I will not encounter such a temporary opponent, but a super-strong and super-large version of the main force of state-building armed with the developed and advanced productive forces of Europe in this era. If that were the case, the expeditionary force would probably be in serious trouble. The only thing to be thankful for is that although the French army of this era seems to have prepared a lot of improvised shield wagons and gun wagons, it still does not have the habit of combat experience like in the latter part of the Hundred Years' War. Most of the soldiers seemed to have only cuirass, and the main equipment was simple: the infantry group was mostly muskets, few spears, and a lot of field artillery.

The 100,000-strong French strategic group carried at least 200 or so field artillery pieces, and gradually let these guns approach to a distance of about a mile under the cover of artillery wagons and launch a fierce bombardment. Many heavy arquebusiers also opened fire from a long distance, which greatly surprised Xiao Xuan's previous expectations. I didn't expect the French army in this era to be so conservative to engage and fire at a distance of one mile. However, when he remembered the purpose of this battle, Xiao Xuan was somewhat relieved. If the French were to engage in a close daytime confrontation with their own side, especially if they still had such a large superiority in strength, it would be completely uncertain what their combat effectiveness would be, and it would be difficult for the units of the Volunteer Left Army to effectively grasp the relatively accurate fire situation. I don't know if it will be a rout when you fire with all your might, and if you don't fight the enemy with all your strength, it will put the army in danger again. Therefore, in this case, the troops should lower their bodies to reach their shields and cover, and use their limited firepower to shoot at the opponent who has an absolute superiority in troops from a distance.

Because the artillery fire shown by the army did not seem to be violent, especially in the rapid rush battle, it was too late to carry too much artillery fire and ammunition, so although the number of artillery and artillery skills were obviously superior, the mutual artillery battle between the two sides at this distance gradually became unfavorable to the team led by Xiao Xuan. Obviously: the French army, which has sufficient logistical support for local operations, does not care too much about the life of ammunition and even artillery, and the continuous fire has brought at least hundreds of casualties to the army led by Xiao Xuan.

Under the cover and interference of cavalry and stragglers, the French army gradually began to advance. Compared with those opponents encountered in Eastern Europe, the Western European armies of this era seem to be somewhat deficient in courage, but in terms of tactical arrangements and even the ingenuity of the attack, they are even much stronger than the main forces of Jianzhou that they encountered in those years.

When the stragglers and cavalry gradually broke up under the heavy fire of the Volunteer Left Army, the main artillery and heavy arquebusiers of the French army had approached a distance of about 200 meters, and at this distance they launched fierce firepower, which brought a lot of pressure and losses to the team. This also made Xiao Xuan begin to realize that when he fought against such a strong enemy, he could no longer adopt the attitude and method of "keeping one hand" when he fought before. He also ordered the field artillery, which was mainly composed of 200 pounds of artillery under the control of the second general's artillery, to launch fierce firepower. Almost at the same time, the archers in each company also launched their projectiles at the maximum range, trying to put maximum pressure on the opposing gunners and even the opposing vehicles.

The continuous heavy sound of artillery and the rain of arrows that fell from this time finally put a lot of pressure on the French gunners and even the musketeers in the front row, and despite the obvious superiority in strength and the cover provided by the temporary car shields, the casualty and loss ratio of both sides was significantly greater than before. The French army, whose psychological literacy on the battlefield was far from being comparable to that of the Volunteer Left Army, even fired the tongs along with gunpowder and ammunition in this case.

(End of chapter)